Cheerful and empowering.
Fourteen-year-old Australian Maisie and her mum, Jo, are enthusiastic lovers of all things nerdy.
After scrimping and saving, they’re finally on their way to Maisie’s first fancon. Above all, Maisie is excited to meet her idol, Kara Bufano, an actress who plays her favorite superhero and is an amputee like her. The convention has more surprises in store, including a new crush in 15-year-old artist and fellow fan Ollie, who is nonbinary and working the con with their dad. Maisie’s leg amputation was due to cancer, which is in remission but has left her with chronic pain and fatigue. Her ongoing treatments and mobility aids are portrayed as a natural part of ordinary life, as is her bisexuality. While the characters often discuss anti-ableist messages in ways that could be more organic, the lessons carry import. The story is strongest when letting Maisie, Ollie, and Jo express their personalities. It captures an intense one-day romance bonded by fan art and instant understanding. Ultimately, just as important is the love between Maisie and Jo, a quirky and tightly bonded duo who are there for each other through thick and thin. Candy-colored art makes the busy convention a delightful world of visual excitement and discovery for Maisie. Aśka’s strong character illustrations let every emotion be clearly understood. Maisie and Jo have light-brown skin; Ollie and their dad read White.
Cheerful and empowering. (author’s note) (Graphic fiction. 12-17)Pub Date: Aug. 1, 2023
ISBN: 9781338818802
Page Count: 224
Publisher: Graphix/Scholastic
Review Posted Online: May 24, 2023
Kirkus Reviews Issue: June 15, 2023
BOOK REVIEW
PERSPECTIVES
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play.
Garber returns to the world of bestseller Caraval (2017), this time with the focus on younger, more daring sister Donatella.
Valenda, capital of the empire, is host to the second of Legend’s magical games in a single year, and while Scarlett doesn’t want to play again, blonde Tella is eager for a chance to prove herself. She is haunted by the memory of her death in the last game and by the cursed Deck of Destiny she used as a child which foretold her loveless future. Garber has changed many of the rules of her expanding world, which now appears to be infused with magic and evil Fates. Despite a weak plot and ultraviolet prose (“He tasted like exquisite nightmares and stolen dreams, like the wings of fallen angels, and bottles of fresh moonlight.”), this is a tour de force of imagination. Themes of love, betrayal, and the price of magic (and desire) swirl like Caraval’s enchantments, and Dante’s sensuous kisses will thrill readers as much as they do Tella. The convoluted machinations of the Prince of Hearts (one of the Fates), Legend, and even the empress serve as the impetus for Tella’s story and set up future volumes which promise to go bigger. With descriptions focusing primarily on clothing, characters’ ethnicities are often indeterminate.
Dark, seductive, but over-the-top: Characters and book alike will enthrall those who choose to play. (glossary) (Fantasy. 12-16)Pub Date: May 29, 2018
ISBN: 978-1-250-09531-2
Page Count: 464
Publisher: Flatiron Books
Review Posted Online: March 19, 2018
Kirkus Reviews Issue: April 1, 2018
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
BOOK REVIEW
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod.
Can a 17-year-old with her first girlfriend prevent real-life folks from discovering her online fandoms?
Cass is proudly queer, happily fat, and extremely secretive about being a fan who role-plays on Discord. Back in middle school, she had what she calls a gaming addiction, playing “The Sims” so much her parents had to take the game away. Now, turning to her role-play friends to cope with her fighting parents, she worries that people will judge her for her fannishness and online life. To be fair, her grades are suffering. And sure, maybe she’s missed a college application deadline. Also, her mom has suddenly left Minneapolis and moved to Maine to be with a man she met online. But on the other hand, Cass is finally dating her amazingly cute longtime crush, Taylor. Pansexual Taylor is a gamer, a little bit punk, White like Cass, and so, so great—but she still can’t help comparing her to Rowan, Cass’ online best friend and role-playing ship partner. But Rowan doesn’t want to be a dirty little secret and doesn’t see why Cass can’t be honest about this part of her life. The inevitable train wreck of her lies looms on the horizon for months in an overlong morality play building to the climax that includes tidy resolutions to all the character arcs that are quite heartwarming but, in the case of Cass’ estranged mother, narratively unearned.
Despite the well-meaning warmth, a wearying plod. (Fiction. 13-16)Pub Date: Feb. 7, 2023
ISBN: 978-0-06-324332-3
Page Count: 384
Publisher: Quill Tree Books/HarperCollins
Review Posted Online: Nov. 15, 2022
Kirkus Reviews Issue: Dec. 1, 2022
BOOK REVIEW
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